This Wooing Thing
by ashestoashesanddusttodust
Summary: Shikamaru knew better than to ask for help from anyone else on this matter. All the men he knew were hopeless. One sentence series.


**This Wooing Thing  
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**A Word**: I like the one sentence format, but I don't have a journal to post to those comms. Oh well. Obviously this was written with none of the current events taken into consideration. I pretty much stopped before Pain and curled up into a tiny, whimpering ball of tears with the Naruto series. So, yeah, not canon compliant.

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**#03 - Beginning**

One day a thought ambushed Shikamaru as he was playing shogi and refused to go away; that if he was going to get married to anyone it might as well be Shizune.

**#25 - Light**

It's a frustrating thought that plagues him for months, but it's not until he decided to give into it that he realizes exactly how much fighting it had weighed him down; Shikamaru feels like he's almost gliding as he goes to intercept Shizune, it's a thought he quickly crushes.

**#01 - Air**

The wind almost ripped the scrolls from Shizune's hands, but the Anbu captain caught them and handed them over with a casual question, "Would you like to play a game after work?"

**#20 - Green**

He'd be the first to admit that he doesn't have the first clue as to what he's doing, but he refuses to ask for advice, he's seen enough of what not to do that Shikamaru is confident he can do this wooing thing on his own.

**#05 - Coffee**

The brew was strong enough to keep her going for another day, but Shizune only needed a few more hours, she rarely lasted long against Nara in shogi.

**#42 - Strange**

Women were such troubling creatures, and Shizune was no exception to this as Shikamaru quickly discovered; his lack of annoyance as she flusters over some comment she's perceived as an insult puzzles him.

**#32 - Pretty**

Shizune had the prettiest eyes he'd ever seen on a woman, impishly tilted eyes that were more captivating than they had any right to be.

**#45 - Ugly**

When compared to the likes of Tsunade and Sakura, Shizune knew there wasn't a single thing about her that would make her stand out.

**#06 - Dark**

She was puzzled by the way Tsunade smirked each time she caught Shizune and Nara talking.

**#35 - Roses**

Shizune stared blankly at the flower utterly confused as to why Captain Nara would be giving it to her.

**#09 - Drink**

Shizune realized something was going on when the notoriously lazy and rude Shikamaru handed her a cup of her favorite tea after a stress filled day.

**#26 - Lost**

Chewing her nails was a habit she only indulged in when truly troubled, and the more she talked to Nara -_Shikamaru_ as he would insist- the more ragged they became.

**#29 - Old**

The knowing looks, the whispered conversations that go silent when she approaches, the absolutely strange way Shikamaru wa acting; it was all getting to Shizune, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

**#33 - Rain**

Shizune shrieks as the sky opens up over them, sprinting toward the closest shelter as Shikamaru trudges slowly after her; they're both equally wet when he gets there but she still insists on fussing over him for being out in the open longer.

**#47 - Water**

Shizune's hands flutter uselessly around the stoic Shikamaru as she rambles about chills and pneumonia, and he doesn't roll his eyes or scoff at her worry -all things she has seen him do with people he's known longer than her- and all her frustration boils over in a hot second as she all but screams, "What are you doing!?"

**#22 - Hollow**

How typical, Shikamaru muses with no little amount of self-depredation as Shizune's exclamation gets swallowed up by the rain, he'd been far too subtle for his own good; Shizune wavered on the brink of a breakdown he hadn't seen coming and Shikamaru knew there was only one thing he could do to stop that.

**#11 - Earth**

The smell of wet earth fills her nose as Shikamaru brushes her hands away and wraps his arms around her, his dark eyes intent as he leans closer and Shizune only has a split second to feel relieved that she's finally solved the puzzle that is Nara Shikamaru before he's kissing her senseless.

**#02 - Apples**

Part of Shikamaru realized that spiced apples were his new favorite food, the rest of him firmly told that part to shut up and just enjoy the kiss.

**#24 - Hope**

"Well," a red faced Shizune said to TonTon, "I think it's safe to say I have a boyfriend."

**#07 - Despair**

Shikamaru knows he's made a mistake that he'll regret for the rest of his life, the fact that he doesn't mind it one bit just shows how far he's fallen.

**#36 - Secret**

There were several reasons he never told Ino anything unless he had to, and her loudly exclaimed, "Wait, you're not gay!?" was just one of them.

**#13 - Fall**

Shikamaru _listened_ to her, he didn't pretend to placate her or even tune her out when she knew she was just venting, and that knowledge was enough to make her stomach flutter.

**#40 - Spring**

Shikamaru wanted to lay back and just watch the trees, but Shizune dragged him along to the different stalls of the festival and he found himself barely protesting it.

**#15 - Flexible**

He hadn't fully understood Anko's insinuations about Shizune's flexibility until much later.

**#14 - Fire**

She loved the way her skin burned under his every touch and caress.

**#18 - Foot**

"But, she's old," Naruto exclaims exactly one second before he's launched into the air from a double punch by Sakura and Shizune.

**#16 - Flying**

Watching Naruto sail gracefully through the air -with twin streams of blood following him- Shikamaru can't help the twinge of pride he feels.

**#41 - Stable**

The woman who'd answered the door had directed Shizune to the back of the house, it was easy to find Shikamaru as he tossed bags of feed down from the loft of the stable.

**#49 - Winter**

The silhouettes of the herd flickered between the trees, Shizune looked up and said, "I wish I could see one, just once."

**#43 - Summer**

"They're friendlier when it warms up," Shikamaru looked at her hopeful smile and gave an exaggerated sigh, "in a few months I'll introduce you to the herd, alright?"

**#50 - Wood**

"Shikamaru," Shizune sounds so lost and confused he opens an eye to look over at where she's opening a box, note clutched in her hand as she looks into the unwrapped parcel, "why would your mother send me a paddle?"

**#04 - Bugs**

Shikamaru stared at the jars of bugs lining the workshop -any one of them could produce enough poison to kill him with one sting or bite- while Shizune cooed to her newest and most vicious addition.

**#46 - War**

It was rare that they saw each other in town anymore, they were both too busy running missions -income was sorely needed in the midst of the war- or fighting, but the few moments they managed were precious to them.

**#31 - Poison**

Shikamaru hated poisons personally but gave in when she insisted he take a few bottles with him, and he was grateful for it a week later when a few drops into a water supply was all it took to wipe out a bothersome encampment.

**#17 - Food**

Waiting for a group of enemy nin to enter his trap Shikamaru found himself thinking about rice balls, they were the last regular food he'd eaten in over a month and he found himself wanting them again even if Shizune tended to make them slightly too salty for his tastes.

**#39 - Solid**

Shizune finds she can't move and nearly panics before she feels ghostly arms wrapping around her waist in a familiar way, a glance confirms her suspicions, and she glares across the clearing at the lazily smirking shadow manipulator who is obviously not paying attention to the briefing if he has time to play.

**#38 - Snow**

Shizune embraces the cold that seeps into her as the snow she's hiding in wraps around her, dropping her body temperature to dangerous levels that are needed to keep her hidden as the enemy passes far too close to her; she pretends the snow is a shadow to keep herself from shivering.

**#44 - Taboo**

They meet occasionally in the field -she on her way to an emergency, and he slipping through the shadows- the kisses they steal in those brief seconds are desperate and tinged with the flavor of blood.

**#34 - Regret**

Blood loss put Shikamaru down before he could make it to safety, as his vision grayed out he wished he'd told someone to take Shizune to see the deer for him.

**#12 - End**

Her chakra was nearly gone but Shizune pushed harder pulling on reserves best left untouched, desperately trying to put some life back into the horribly pale Shikamaru.

**#37 - Snakes**

Shikamaru dreamed that he was being eaten alive by twin snakes of fire and ice, twining up his spine and spreading pain everywhere despite the small hands that frantically tried to stop them.

**#19 - Grave**

"You're no good dead," Tsunade lectured harshly, the lines in her face softening as her apprentice watched the litter carriers disappear before letting herself pass out.

**#10 - Duty**

The treaties were still drying and the dead almost buried before the last fighting ended, Shizune concentrated on her duty beside Tsunade trying hard not to let her mind wander to the hospital room she desperately wanted to go to.

**#27 - Metal**

She kisses him when he wakes, tasting the metallic traces of blood, and then -carefully- slaps him.

**#30 - Peace**

There were funerals to attend, lives to rebuild, heroes to honor, and missions to be taken; neither of them thought about that then, both too tired to do more than let the fragile sense of peace fill the hospital room.

**#28 - New**

The first night out of the hospital she gently traces each and every single new scar he has with her fingers; he has a lot but so does she and they keep themselves busy learning them all night long.

**#08 - Doors**

Slowly, routine returns and Shizune grows used to the new awareness she carries whenever she enters a room guarded by Shikamaru, the weight of his gaze hidden by the mask and the way she can't help but brush against him ever so slightly.

**#21 - Head**

"Nara," Tsunade drawls one day after Shizune leaves with her customary smile and touch, "if you don't make an honest girl out of her within the next year I will be giving practical demonstrations on how best to peal every inch of skin off of a man's head; you will, of course, be my demonstrator."

**#23 - Honor**

The ceremony is larger than either of them would like, but it's the first thing that their friend's have had to celebrate in a long time, so the newly wedded couple put up with the ridiculously out of control party with varying levels of patience.

**#48 - Welcome**

"Well, hello there," Shizune croons to a fawn curiously nudging her open hand with it's soft nose, the doe stands still and calm under Shikamaru's hand as he introduces his wife to the newest members of the herd; her smile is blinding as the fawn butts it's head against her playfully and Shikamaru smiles at the sight.

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End file.
